Privacy Questions and Answers

This notice describes how the Scala Center collects and uses data about you.

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What is the Scala Center?

The Scala Center is a not-for-profit center established at EPFL. The Scala Center hosts forums using Discourse for users and contributors of the Scala programming language.

How does the Scala Center collect data about me?

The Scala Center collects data about you:

  • when you browse a forum that the Scala Center hosts

  • when you create and use an account on a forum that the Scala Center hosts

  • when you post, send private messages, and otherwise participate in a forum that the Scala Center hosts

The Scala Center collects data when you use forums that Discourse hosts, whether you use the forums using a web browser on your own computer, or use the Scala Center’s Discourse apps for mobile devices.

The Scala Center does not buy or otherwise receive data about you from data brokers.

What data does the Scala Center collect about me, and why?

The Scala Center collects data about visits to forums.

When you visit a forum that the Scala Center hosts, whether you have an account or not, the forum uses cookies, server logs, and other methods to collect data about what pages you visit and when.

The Scala Center uses data about how you use the website to:

  • optimize the forum, so that it’s quick and easy to use

  • diagnose and debug technical errors

  • defend the forum from abuse and technical attacks

  • compile statistics on forum and topic popularity

  • compile statistics on the kinds of software and computers visitors use

The Scala Center usually stores data about how you use the forum in identifiable form for just a few weeks. In special circumstances, like extended investigations about technical attacks, the Scala Center may preserve log data longer, for analysis. The Scala Center stores aggregate statistics about use of the forum for as long as the Scala Center hosts the forum, but those statistics don’t include data identifiable to you personally.

The Scala Center collects account data.

Many features of forums that the Scala Center hosts require a forum account. For example, most forums that the Scala Center hosts require an account to post and reply to topics.

To sign up for a forum account, Discourse requires your name, a user name, and an e-mail address.

The Scala Center uses your account data to identify you on the forum, and to create pages specific to you, like your profile page. If the forum is public, the Scala Center publishes your account data. If the forum is access-restricted, the Scala Center makes your account data available to everyone who can access the forum, according to the forum administrator’s configuration.

The Scala Center uses your e-mail address to:

  • notify you about posts and other activity on the forum

  • reset your password and help keep your account secure

  • contact you in special circumstances related to your account

  • contact you about legal requests, like DMCA takedown requests

You may provide additional data for your account, like a short biography, your location, or your birthday, on the profile settings page for your account. The Scala Center makes that data available to others who can access the forum. You don’t have to provide this additional information, and you can erase it at any time.

The Scala Center stores your account data as long as your account remains open.

The Scala Center collects data about posts and other activity on the forum.

The Scala Center collects the content of your posts, plus data about bookmarks, likes, and links you follow in order to share that data with others, through the forum. If the forum is public, the Scala Center publishes your activity. If the forum is access-restricted, or access restrictions apply to the specific post, the Scala Center makes your activity available only to users permitted to see it.

The Scala Center also collects data about private messages that you send through the forum. The Scala Center makes private messages available to senders and their recipients, and also to forum administrators.

The Scala Center stores your posts and other activity as long as your account remains open.

How can I make choices about data collection?

You can make choices about how data about is used on the settings page for your account. When a forum uses access restrictions that vary by category, you can choose who will see your post by choosing the appropriate category.

The Scala Center does not respond to the Do Not Track HTTP header.

Where does the Scala Center store data about me?

All forums that the Scala Center hosts store data in the EPFL data centers in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Does the Scala Center comply with the EU General Data Protection Regulation?

The Scala Center respects privacy rights under Regulation (EU) 2016/679, the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Information that GDPR requires the Scala Center to give can be found throughout this privacy notice. So can information about specific rights, like access, rectification, erasure, data portability, and objection to automated decision-making.

Where can I access data about me?

You can see your account data at any time by visiting your account page on the forum. Your account page also lists your posts and other activity on the forum.

Your account activity page also includes a link to download all of your activity in standard comma-separated values format.

How can I change or erase data about me?

You can change your account data at any time by visiting the profile settings page for your account. The settings for a particular forum may also allow you to close your account, on the settings page for your account. Closing your account starts a process of erasing or anonymizing the Scala Center’s records of data you provided for your account. Forum administrators can also erase and anonymize accounts.

Depending on the settings for your particular forum, you may also be able to edit, anonymize, or erase your posts. When you edit posts, the Scala Center will keep all versions of your posts. Forum administrators can view old versions of posts, and optionally make them visible to other forum visitors.

Does the Scala Center make automated decisions based on data about me?

The Scala Center uses data about posts and activity to set trust levels automatically.

Depending on how administrators of your forum configure the forum, the forum may use data about your posts and activity to award you badges and calculate a trust level for your account. Your trust level may affect how you can participate in the forum, such as whether you can upload images, as well as give you access to moderation and management powers in the forum. Your trust level therefore reflects forum administrators’ confidence in you, and their willingness to delegate community management functions, like moderation.

If you think your trust level has been set incorrectly, contact an administrator of your forum. They can manually adjust the trust level of your account.

Does the Scala Center share data about me with others?

The Scala Center shares account data with others as mentioned in the section about account data.

The Scala Center shares data about your posts and other forum activity with others as mentioned in the section about account data.

The Scala Center does not sell or give information about you to other companies or services. However, the Scala Center does use services from other companies on some forums that it hosts. The companies behind those services may collect data about you on their own, for their own purposes. Some of these services may be used to collect information about your online activities across different websites. All of these services are based in the United States.

Service Privacy Notice Description
Google Analytics https://www.google.com/analytics/terms/ Compiles visitor statistics on some forums, including meta.discourse.org. You can opt out of Google Analytics using a browser extension.
Apple Push Notification Service https://www.apple.com/legal/privacy/ Sends push notifications to users of the Discourse iOS app.
Google Cloud Messaging https://policies.google.com/privacy Sends push notifications to users of the Discourse Android app.

Other individuals and companies may also reuse data about you that the Scala Center publishes, such as your posts to public forums.

How can I contact the Scala Center about privacy?

You can send questions and complaints to:

Scala Center team
[email protected]

For complaints under GDPR more generally, European Union users may lodge complaints with their local data protection supervisory authorities.

How can I find out about changes?

This version of the Scala Center’s privacy questions and answers took effect May 21, 2019.

The Scala Center will post the next version at https://contributors.scala-lang.org/privacy.

In the meantime, the Scala Center may update its contact information without announcing a change. Please refer to https://contributors.scala-lang.org/privacy for the latest contact information at any time.